In U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,572 there is disclosed a thermal storage system which provides heating and cooling to the passenger compartment of the vehicle for extended periods of time when the vehicle engine is not operating. The system described comprises a refrigerant circulatory system having a circuitous refrigerant line and an evaporator and condenser serially disposed within the circuitous line operative to vaporize and condense a refrigerant fluid, respectively, a reactor containing a sorbent material for absorbing vaporized refrigerant in fluid communication with the refrigerant line, a heater in thermal communication with the sorbent, and a multi-channel ventilation system having a blower for forcing air through the channels of the system and to the output, said channels communicating with the evaporator, the condenser, and the reactor. The thermal storage system and method of operation disclosed in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,572 is incorporated herein by reference.